The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Winds could fan enormous Northern California fires
SAN FRANCISCO » A calm overnight allowed firefighters to make progress against a trio of massive wildfires burning in Northern California but they were girding for a weather system Sunday that will bring high winds and thunderstorms that could spark new fires and fan existing blazes that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and other structures and forced tens of thousands to evacuate.
The “complexes,” or groups of fires, burning on all sides of the San Francisco Bay Area were started by lightning strikes that were among 12,000 registered in the state in the past week. The National Weather Service issued a “red flag” warning through Monday afternoon for the drought-stricken area, meaning extreme fire conditions including high temperatures, low humidity and wind gusts up to 65 mph (105 kph) that “may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior.”
At a morning briefing on the so-called CZU Lightning Complex fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains south of San Francisco, fire officials said they had increased containment to 8% and with the better weather on Saturday dug more protective fire lines around vulnerable communities, including the University of California, Santa Cruz.
But there is concern about the weather and the thunderstorms that will bring high winds and “dry” lightning, a term used when such storms have little or no rain. Radar images from late morning showed lightning offshore and approaching the coast.
Chief Mark Brunton, a battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said the winds can blow a fire in any direction and while he’s confident firefighters did the most with the time they had to prepare, he’s not sure what to expect.
“There’s a lot of potential for things to really go crazy out there,” he said.
Another challenge for firefighters and police are people who refuse to leave the evacuation zone out of stubbornness or because they want to protect their homes and others who use the chaos to commit crimes. Brunton said he was “sickened” to learn that a fire commander was robbed while helping coordinate efforts on Saturday. Someone entered the commander’s fire vehicle and stole personal items, including a wallet and “drained his bank account.”
Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Chris Clark said when people don’t heed evacuation orders it makes it harder for firefighters to do their job and for police to protect property. It’s also inherently dangerous for civilians, with fires burning unpredictably and tree branches falling — one hit a patrol car and damaged the windshield.
“Please, please, please leave the evacuation area,” he said.
Since Aug. 15, state fire officials said more than 500 fires of varying sizes have burned throughout California, scorching a million acres, or 1,562 square miles. Of those, about two dozen major fires were attracting much of the state’s resources.
Most of the damage was caused by the three complexes that were ravaging forest and rural areas in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. They have burned 1,175 square miles, destroyed almost 1,000 homes and other structures and killed five people, three of them who were found in a home in an area under an evacuation order.
Other casualties included ancient redwood trees at California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, plus the park’s headquarters and campgrounds. Smoke from the fires made the region’s air quality dangerous, forcing millions to stay inside.
“Tuesday night when I went to bed I had a beautiful home on a beautiful ranch,” said 81-year-old Hank Hanson of Vacaville. “By Wednesday night, I have nothing but a bunch of ashes.”